Patty Wetli | January 9, 2021 10:55 am Urban Growers Collective maintains a herd of 17 goats at its South Chicago farm. (Courtesy of Urban Growers Collective) If you thought hailing a pedicab to haul away your dried-up husk of a Christmas tree was an unconventional mode of recycling, well, we can top that. Thanks to our sponsors: There’s a herd of goats on the South Side that keeps the holiday trees out of landfills by eating them, chowing down on discarded pines and firs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. “They just love chewing on the bark. It’s food and it’s also something for them to do,” said Laurell Sims, co-founder and CEO of financials and self-professed “goat mama” for Urban Growers Collective, a nonprofit that operates eight urban farms in Chicago.